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Publication of the U.S.S. Chesapeake Star Trek and Science-Fiction Club September, 2007 Star Trek family remembers the past, looks to the future A special tribute has been unveiled to b Jeri Ryan, who wed French chef Chris- mark the life of Star Trek star James “Scotty” tophe Emé in the Loire Valley in June, is ex- Jeri Ryan, who Doohan in Linlithgow, Scotland. pecting a baby, according to People Magazine. portrayed Seven of Doohan’s widow Wende and son Chris “She is thrilled about the new addition, Nine on Voyager, is joined other family members to unveil a and they are very, very happy,” said her rep- pregnant ... again. plaque commemorating the late Trek legend. resentative, David Lust. “They are beyond At the age of 85, he passed away on July 20, excited and are beaming from ear to ear.” 2005. Although she does not yet know the gen- The plaque was placed in Annet House der of her child, Ryan is due in March, 2008. Museum, High Street, Linlithgow, on Monday, She also has a 12-year-old son, Alex, from a September 17. previous relationship. The museum already hosts the James Ryan is best known among genre fans for Doohan Memorial exhibition that displays her role as ex-Borg Seven of Nine in Star Trek: personal memorabilia and props. Voyager. She joined the show at the beginning Councillor Martyn Day, executive mem- of its fourth season. ber for Development and Transport, said: She earned a bachelor of arts degree in “We are delighted to welcome the Doohan theater from Northwestern University. family to West Lothian for this very special At their wedding, Ryan and Emé ex- event. changed vows before about 120 guests at a “James Doohan and his memorable Star castle in Eme’s hometown outside Angers, Trek character, Engineer Montgomery Scott, France. are known to millions all over the world, and Ryan returns as attorney Jessica Devlin it is fitting that a permanent memorial is in the CBS drama Shark; the show’s second erected in Linlithgow, Scotty’s future birth- season premieres on Sunday, September 23, at place. 10 p.m. “James Doohan’s widow Wende and son Outside of acting, Ryan and Emé own the Chris have given their full support to the Hollywood French restaurant, the Ortolan. exhibition, and we are pleased they are making Ryan was born on February 22, 1968, in In this issue: the trip over to unveil the commemorative Munich, Germany. Her family currently lives Art Credits 3 Club Members plaque,” he said. in Los Angeles. Insert front Coming Events 6 Captain’s Log 2 September means “Hard Times” for our meeting Directions to Meeting The next meeting of the U.S.S. Chesapeake are up to and hear the latest news about Star Insert front Meeting Minutes Star Trek and Science-Fiction Club will be on Trek and other sci-fi television shows and fea- Insert back Saturday, September 22, at the Hard Times ture films. Phasers on Fun 6 Cafe located in College Park, Maryland. Do you need directions in order for you Reflections 4 Science Trek 3 Dinner should begin around 5 p.m., fol- to be able to make it to the this month’s club Wayne’s Worlds 5 lowed by our club meeting, which will start no meeting? Download this month’s insert, later than 7:00 p.m. which you can now find in our online Yahoo! We’ll find out what fellow club members Group. Volume 16, Issue 9 CAPTAIN’S LOG: “World Enough and Time” I remember when former club member With each outing, the “new crew” becomes John Staton told me about Star Trek: New easier to accept as the classic characters, and Voyages a few years ago. At first, I was I thought this was definitely James Cawley’s less than thrilled about the concept of best performance as my second-favorite Kirk. recasting the original Enterprise crew, but That’s high praise from a longtime William the prospect of having new Classic Trek Shatner fan. to watch was just too enticing for me to Just as Andy Bray scored as the new pass up. Chekov in the “TSAMD,” John Lim was great Since then, a number of other fan taking over the role of Sulu. Not only did he projects have come along, from Starship nail Takei’s mannerisms, but I came away ap- Exeter, which has been caught in a time preciating the character better than I did in all warp between acts of its second episode, of Classic Trek. to Starship Farragut, a local effort that On top of that, I have to say Christina will release its second program, “For Moses was wonderful as Sulu’s daughter, Want of a Nail,” on October 10. Alana. Her character was pivotal to the epi- Still, New Voyages was the first to sode, and she pulled it off beautifully. brave this new frontier, and I’ve been The props and costumes were excellent as New Voyages’ latest following their progress for years. I remember always, but the biggest improvement came in offering stars George expressing my disappointment with the non- the direction. The episode had many inter- Takei from Classic Trek. ending of their Chekov-centered episode, “To esting camera angles, and the lighting was Serve All My Days,” and I worried that future reminiscent of the mood evoked in many first- endeavors might not live up to fans’ (or my) season Trek programs. Copyright 2007 expectations. The bad: The only time I felt I wasn’t U.S.S. Chesapeake NCC-9102, a The latest release, “World Enough and watching “real Trek” unfortunately came dur- not-for-profit Time,” is now available online, and it has an ing a pivotal scene. organization. All rights reserved, interesting plot. As the 30-year-older Sulu exclaims that including When testing of a new Romulan weapon the other person in the transporter beam is his reproducing parts of leaves the Enterprise trapped in a distortion daughter, the camera inexplicably cuts away this document. field, Sulu and a new female crew member from Takei in mid-sentence to focus on Kirk’s Check out our club shuttle to a Romulan vessel to get informa- reaction. I can only assume that some prob- website: www. tion on the device that could enable Kirk and lem with the footage forced the New Voyages usschesapeake.org company to break free. team to jump to Cawley’s face sooner than The opinions The field begins to deteriorate rapidly, and they wanted to. expressed in this Scotty tries to beam Sulu and his crewmate The ugly: Ironically, the biggest flaw in publication do not necessarily represent back. When he does, the crew finds that what “World Enough and Time” came in getting the those of the was 30 seconds to them was 30 years to the episode to the people who wanted to see it. entire club. helmsman, who now has an adult daughter After getting positive reactions to show- “Star Trek,” and no longer remembers the data he was sent ings at Shore Leave in July and the Las Vegas “Star Trek: The Next to retrieve. Creation con in August, the New Voyages Generation,” “Star With that said, it’s time to put on my Clint people should have been ready for an enor- Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: Eastwood hat and get reviewing. mous amount of interest in the film when it Voyager,” and “Star The good: I’ve read many glowing reviews was released. Trek: Enterprise,” as well as the terms of “World Enough and Time,” including one I know the crew had their computer ex- “starship” and from Gene Roddenberry’s son, Rod. Let me perts run a number of tests, and I’m sure they “starship Enterprise,” put it this way: This episode sets a new stan- expected people to be able to download the are registered trademarks of dard against which all other independent Star episode at warp speed when the time came, Paramount Pictures Trek productions will be judged. but sadly, things didn’t turn out that way, and Corporation. Yes, it’s that well done. if it were up to me, I’d have different computer All rights reserved. Absolutely no George Takei does a terrific job as the experts when “Blood and Fire” comes out a infringement on older Sulu, from duking it out with Captain few months from now. these rights is Kirk to receiving the character’s first mind- Next month: My review of the second Far- intended. meld from Spock, a scene that could have been ragut episode, “For Want of a Nail.” COMSTAR, page 2 awful but instead was gripping. Captain Randy Hall SCIENCE TREK: These are the new voyages ... It was 20 years ago today that the Great with their objectives. Bird asked the--. Wait, wrong generation. • 10-20 page essay explaining response Let’s try this. I was in high school listening to number three. Q107 when another Q appeared on the televi- Season 1: “Angel One” The U.S.S. Enter- sion screen. Sorry if that makes you feel old, prise crew travels to Angel One, a planet run by but it was two decades (or about 631,134,720 women, to search for survivors from a Federa- seconds) ago that Star Trek: The Next Genera- tion freighter disabled by an asteroid collision tion appeared on television screens across seven years earlier. Men = refugees sentenced America and eventually the world. to death, Wesley brings a virus aboard, and oh Twenty years ago, these were the new voy- yes, the ship needs to fend off Romulans in the ages of the Starship Enterprise. Her continuing Neutral Zone. Riker saves men, Dr. Crusher mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek cures virus, and ship rushes off to fight the out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go Romulans. where no one has gone before. Season 2: “A Matter of Honor” A special The question, looking back, is did they? exchange program brings a Benzite named Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life Mendon aboard the Enterprise and gives Riker and new civilizations? Split infinitives once the opportunity to become the first Federation more? officer to serve on board a Klingon ship. Mean- As specified by the TNG Writer and while, a pesky space virus (I hate those) infects Director’s Guide, the ship’s mission (with com- the hulls of both ships. Putting to use his brief mentary) is five-fold: “Worf’s Kourse in Basic Klingon,” Riker inge- To expand the body of human knowl- niously takes command of the Klingon ship edge. (Curious wording as the Federation and and orders the Enterprise to surrender. Starfleet was not limited to humans ... but then Season 3: “Evolution” Dr. Paul Stubbs, an the audience is — as far as we know) eminent scientist, has come aboard the En- To provide assistance as required to terprise to study the explosion of a star in the Earth/Federation colonies, commerce and Kavis Alpha Sector, which occurs only once travelers. (Obviously, Earth plays a major role every 196 years. As the crew prepares to launch in the Federation, like the U.S. in the United Stubbs’ research unit, the ship is suddenly Nations) drawn into the fiery path of the stellar matter. Commander Riker To provide for Earth/Federation security. The Enterprise computers initially fail to re- (right) defends Wesley To seek out new life, new civilizations. spond to commands to stabilize, yet even after Crusher during TNG’s “Angel One.” (The one line from that famous quote above the ship is restored to normal, the computer and it’s buried at number four) reports no malfunction. Teenage science nerd To provide further understanding of the (Wesley) + science experiment (nanites) = bad universe and humanity’s (there’s that word idea. again) place in it. “Who are we? Where have Season 4: “Best of Both Worlds, Part II” we come from? What are we about? And Captain Picard had been captured by the Borg. where are we going?” As the new season begins, his captors have mu- Throughout the history of space travel, tilated him into a half-Borg, half-human called accomplishing the mission safely has been the Locutus and have been manipulating him to key to gaining insight into the universe, our gain insight into human behavior to aid their world and our capabilities, both technological plan to conquer Earth and enslave human- and biological. ity. They have also accessed Picard’s extensive Let’s take a look at episodes from each of knowledge of the Enterprise, its crew and their ART CREDITS: startrek.com 1, 3, 4, 6 Next Gen’s seasons. Your assignment, if you strategy to defend Earth. The rest is obvious, so newvoyages.com 2 choose to accept it, is to read the description let me explain it. Oops, wrong show. sheldoncomics.com 6 below, compare it to the mission objectives Season 5: “The Perfect Mate” The battle images.google.com 5, Insert back above, and then choose one of these four reac- between the Krios and Valt Minor systems is set scifi.com Insert front tions: to end aboard the neutral ground of the Enter- • Huh? prise in a Ceremony of Reconciliation. Kriosian • I remember that episode! Ambassador Briam arrives first with a gift for

• Ah, I see where that fit in/did not fit in Continued on page 6 COMSTAR, page 3 REFLECTIONS: Lightning in a bottle again “Captain’s log, stardate 42353.7. Our Next Generation gave actual scientific specula- destination is planet Cygnus lV, beyond which tion on the very things the real scientific com- lies the great unexplored mass of the galaxy ... munity was concerned with at the time much .”—Jean-Luc Picard’s first log entry as captain more than I remembered. Unfortunately, any of the Enterprise. and all scientific speculation and interest dis- As the song says, “It was 20 years ago appeared sometime in the third season. today,” when Eugene Wesley Roddenberry did Ten years ago, in these very pages, I wrote what Leonard Nimoy said would be impossi- about the negative reaction of the fan base and ble. Not only did Roddenberry create another how hostile most fans were to the idea of a new Star Trek show, but he created another POPU- Star Trek. I also wrote about being chased out LAR Star Trek show. of a convention because I told everyone how In doing so, he managed to “catch light- much I liked the new show. I was lucky to get ning in a bottle” a second time, making Rod- out of there alive. Ahhhhh, good times. denberry the only man in history to create a Despite fan misgivings and hostile reac- sequel to a television show and have that series tions, the show struck a chord with many new equally as popular as the original. fans, people who were not Star Trek: The Next Generation aired on necessarily familiar with the week of September 28, 1987. The show the Original Series. would be syndicated, another bold move on I know it’s hard to be- Roddenberry’s part. At that time, syndication lieve, but there were some was viewed as the domain of reruns and talk folks who were ignorant shows. First-run shows for syndication were of Star Trek. These people considered a “fool’s error.” Now it is the norm made Next Generation of the television industry. the hit that it was, not the hit that some people I’ll tell you how long ago that really was. believe it became. Our first and second officers were still in high A lot of people believe that Next Gen didn’t school. The Redskins won a Super Bowl that become a bona fide hit until its third season. year. My hair was still black. (It used to match Well, let’s squash that nasty rumor right here the rest of me.) I watched the first episode on and now. Next Generation was a hit from its October 4. This was syndication, you under- first telecast, and not just a minor hit, but a stand, so everyone did not view the pilot at the major one. There was never a moment when same time, so this will be a two-part article. Next Generation was not popular, even when it I’m such a stickler for detail. started to become pretty bad. So I dusted off my old Next Generation Every season, Next Generation gained in tapes. (Yes, I still have them—the original viewership, and every season, it would lose airings, commercials and all!) and sat down to something of itself in the process. Its explora- immerse myself in the allure that was the late tion of the philosophical aspect of life would 1980s. be augmented, its regard for science and sci- I expected to see a clunky show with entific theory would diminish. As the seasons outdated production values and moldy script went on, the show would abandon its scien- ideas, but much to my surprise, the show tific roots for a more dramatic position. This holds up quite well, especially the early years. helped the “mundanes” enjoy the show, but it Granted, it took half of the first season to find left the die-hard science-fiction fans out in the its legs, but that’s pretty much any and every cold. This would eventually fuel the unheard- show produced in Hollywood. of-at-the-time anti-Star Trek movement of During the second half of the first season, the ’90s science fiction crowd and give birth you could see that the show was going to be to television shows supposedly designed to be something special. “un-Star Trek.” C’mon, YOU know what show The most surprising thing to me about I’m talking about. those early years was the amount of actual sci- Next month: I will analyze Next Generation ence and the science-fiction plotting the show season by season, naming the best episodes used during its first two years. Not only were from each. the show’s roots firmly planted in science, but Conn Officer Lorenzo Heard COMSTAR, page 4 WAYNE’S WORLDS: They died too soon It does my heart good to see so many sci- spoke on the phone with Batman, and he told ence-fiction and genre-related shows on the the Dark Knight how proud he would be of his airwaves. I struggle to watch and keep up with daughter and the rest, and that they will repre- them all, but that’s a good thing. sent him very well as they continue to protect Being a genre fan means getting used to Gotham City just as he would do if he were there. having your heart broken. How many times, Witchblade prior to the Internet, did I rush home to catch It has been rare for TNT to venture into the show I was currently passionate about, genre territory, but this series, another based then plunk down in front of my TV in time to on a comic book, was special from the first catch an unscheduled rerun of “Dateline NBC” episode. or some reality show where my program was I’ve often stated that magic can be an easy supposed to be? out for bad writers — you just call out the Looking back, I can see that many shows “woo-woo ray” and it solves everything with- actually paved the way for the current state of out explanation. But this show was like The sci-fi on television. Still, I miss them and wish Dresden Files in that the magic was clearly that, in true genre fashion, they would return defined and actually made sense. from the dead. Sara “Pez” Pezzini, a New York City detec- With apologies to Lorenzo (who I am tive, crossed paths with an ancient device of sure will weigh in on these sometime soon), amazing power, and it attached itself to her I thought this time I’d honor some of my favo- arm. Yancy Butler did a great job of breathing rites that died way too soon. life into this complex character. Birds of Prey Sadly, personal demons in the actress’ life This WB network program was intended are blamed by some for this show being can- to be another Smallville, this time focusing celled after only two seasons, but it was a on some of the Batman family. Based on wonderful thrill ride. the comic book of the same name, the show As an aside, if anyone remembers Will Yun featured intelligent women with abilities that Lee, who played Pez’s partner Danny Woo, complemented each other as they worked he’ll be portraying Jae Kim in NBC’s new up- together as a team to take on mutant bad guys. grade of Bionic Woman this fall. The main characters were Barbara Gor- Brimstone don, who went from Batgirl to being called Fox has made a habit of bringing genre Oracle after a serious injury put her in a shows to the screen, only to cancel them far wheelchair; the Huntress, the daughter of too soon, I feel. One of the best was this su- Bruce Wayne (Batman) and Selina Kyle (Cat- pernatural drama about Ezekiel Stone, a police woman) who had the ability to track and fight detective (funny how that profession keeps with the best of them; and Black Canary, the showing up in sci-fi shows) who returned to youngest of the crew. She had the sonic pow- Earth after 15 years to help the devil capture ers her comics counterpart had. and return 113 of the worst bad guys to Hell. Add Alfred, the Waynes’ butler, who pro- Peter Horton, the star of the show, was vided caustic remarks and reality checks now trying to bring something different to TV. He and again, and you had a pretty varied crew. did a wonderfully understated job of missing Yancy Butler wielded the Witchblade on TNT. I’m still convinced that this show would his old life while shooting the eyes out of the have survived if they had paired it with baddies, returning them to the Nether Regions. Smallville instead of airing it on a different I loved the twists and turns in this pro- night. Yes, the mutants were very reminiscent gram. Even a car was one of the hellions. of the meteor-powered freaks that Clark Stone had to blow out its headlights. faced week by week, but the setting was dif- Smallville fans would recognize John ferent (a large metropolitan area), and the Glover, who is Lionel Luthor, as the devil, one women got to save the day in this show. of the highlights of the program. I will always be grateful to the show’s Sadly, Fox announced that the program producers for putting in a very short scene at was cancelled before the last episodes aired. the end of the final episode for the fans, many No wonder the ratings went down after that! COMSTAR, page 5 of whom knew this was the end. In it, Alfred Chief of Security Wayne Hall COMING EVENTS SEPTEMBER September 22 ...... Our next club meeting will be on Saturday, September 22, at the Hard Times Cafe in College Park, Maryland! Meeting at 7 p.m. SCIENCE TREK: These are the new voyages ... concluded continued from page 3 Now that explains it all! Valtese leader Alrik, a fragile and irreplace- Season 7: “Phantasms” Data is disturbed by able item he asks to have declared off-limits. his first nightmare, in which a group of work- While on course to meet Alrik, the Enterprise is men attack and destroy him. He tells Geordi summoned to aid a Ferengi shuttle and beams about the dream while the pair works to install aboard its two passengers. Picard and the crew the ship’s new warp core, and Geordi points out learn their arrival was no coincidence when that he has probably reached a new level in his one of the Ferengi is caught trying to steal dream program. Soon, Picard and Riker inter- the gift. After being bumped by the Ferengi, rupt to try out the new warp core. But when the cocoon-like structure that houses the gift they attempt to engage the drive, it fails, and the dissolves, revealing an exotic and beautiful lights on the Enterprise shut off. Disappointed, woman. And Picard falls in love with her. Geordi says that he will have to reconfigure the Season 6: “The Chase” Picard is surprised plasma conduit. That evening, Troi pays a visit when Richard Galen, his old archaeology to Data in his quarters, having been alerted to professor whom he hasn’t seen in 30 years, his nightmare. Data tells her that he is afraid The Enterprise D on pays a visit to the Enterprise and asks Picard to activate his dream sequence again, but she Next Generation. to accompany him on a mission. The re- encourages him to keep at it. Data is soon nowned archaeologist has made a discovery so asleep and dreaming, this time seeing Worf profound that the findings could reverberate eating a piece of “cellular peptide cake,” which throughout the galaxy, but he will only reveal is really Troi, who has taken the form of a half- them to Picard if he agrees to join him on a woman, half-cake. He awakens surrounded by lengthy, possibly year-long expedition. The a concerned Troi, Worf and Geordi, who inform offer is tempting to Picard, who once intended him that his chronometer failed and he has to make archaeology his life’s work, but he overslept for the first time. What’s going on? If chooses duty instead, prompting the professor you guessed interphasic leeches, you win a free to angrily leave the starship. Soon afterward, cellular peptide cake! the Enterprise receives a distress call — Galen’s Your homework assignment is: Find five ship is under attack by Yridians. After inad- episodes that exemplify one or more of the mis- vertently destroying the attacking vessel with a sion objectives and bring them to the meeting. phaser hit, the crew is able to transport Galen aboard, but not before he takes a disruptor Synopses based on: blast in the chest at point-blank range. Picard http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ is at the professor’s side when he dies in Sick- TNG/episodes/index.html bay, taking his secret with him to the grave. Second Officer Phil Margolies

PHASERS ON FUN: SHELDON

COMSTAR, page 6